Safety device



Apr. 3, .1923.

C. M. BRADFORD ET AL.

SAFETY DEVICE.-

FILED s. 6. 1919.

I I WW9) I [wt-Mums. FIgtlJ I 3 ffi i w Patented Apr. 3, 1923.

' t me? cot-rotten; or ,rATEne son, nns nYy-A eotroaemett on NEW JERSEY. I v

SAFETY DEVICE.

Application filed February 8, 19-19. sefia-1-1t'0..27' ;84e

TOA-(ZZZQCIYZLOWZ it may r concern v ro'Ri), and Denies Bennett, citizens of the United States, and residents of Boston, in 5 the county of Sufiol-k, andBrookline, int-he county of Norfolk, and State of lt l'assa chusett's, respectively, have inventedcertain Iniproveme'ntsin Safety Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying'drawing's, is a specification, like reference characters" on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

and is herein-ilhisltrated as embodied'in-a ting machine A leather splitting mie ine tom 'dni comprises a knife to which the pieces of :0 leather are fed byv a, pair of feed rolls, and a table upon which the pieces are placed one by one and over'which they are pushed by the operator to present them'to the feed rolls. The pieces" of. leather which are to be split vary greatly Tin length and-in thicknes's; but, for the purpose of explaining the present invention, top lift'sand soles willb'e considered as representing the extreme lini: its. Toplift's are commonly not more than three inches in length and a quarter of an inch thickness while soleslare ofteh several times that length and. twice that thickness It should be understood that these figures are-not intended to be aceurate-andare used merely to inake clear .a problem which is encountered when an attempt is made to prevent injury to thefingers of the operator and at the same time tein'terfere in no way with the operation of the machine. When top lifts are being operated upon, any guard which is used should be fairly close tothe feed rolls so that the short lifts may be presented tothe bite :of the 1-0113; it

should also bees close as possible to the up per surface of the table so as to prevent th 'QP efiQ fl l k ng h ll of i fingers trqtgh' the; p ni g, b twe n he gu rd ate mantle-throug which the lifts i fl fif i di hi r l i are ,tQ be oper: ated ppm, the 1 opening,- between the guard aiid the table shouldbe increased but, thi

l i'r sled a e l wi l permi he; ee reuard designed for use with ra leather splitfii m he s; 1119131 lhcreased 'Qonsequen y, whe er I 1 1 feed rolls tn i ifginsteadio'f increasing the Be it known that we, CHARLES M, BR'AfD y space, between the, guard and the table,- the guard is merely moy'e'd farther :away H therolls, a: thick'sole cannotbe presented i to the machine,

According to one feature the invention I there ls provlded a guardlocated;adgacent.

to the mechanism totwhichjtheiv'orkisto bjej cate'd in front of the e-feed rolls and ahove the table, is adjustabletoward andflfrorn both the rolls and the table. [If top lifts are presented, and means whereby the distance l of the guard from the mechanism andthe i e I j illustrative machinetheguard-,Rvhichis1o V This invention relates to -safety,device s to be operated upon,"the;g,uardadjusted t mo r'- d v l an e 1 h;e QV the table'ust sufi'icient to perrnit the topdifts to be presented but 'insufiicientto permit the tips of the fingers of the operator topass beneath it., If thereaften-l ot of ist v i be run through the roachine, the guard is aflr 1 justed to a distance dfron the rolls greater than the length of the operatorsfingers and to a height above the table suilicient toner} mit the thickest soles tobe presented. This thickness is less than the thie]gi ress, of the operators hand; and consequently, 5; even though the operator Tnay stick his fingers through the opening b'e'tweejn the guard and the table he cannotlreach withthein to the feed rolls.)

n order to siinplifythe"inanipul'ationof the guarch another feature of the invention relates to a construction whereby adjust;

ine'ntozt the guardin one of the directions indicated automatically adjusts it properly in the other direction. In theillustratiye machine, the guard is adjustable,over the table toward and from thefeed rolls there being i a guideway. to cont ol this adjustment so shaped that, when. the guard i eclose t the. rolls, the I opening between it v andthe Y table issrnall, andwhen the gee-rd e oPen= soles ta-p lifts, neqt'eigg pe tedrtpge,

the rind, is aways-1t a position to'; pi veitt I the eperato'ris-fing'e'rs 7 from being caught beset screw 15.

embodied in an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the accompanying drawmg,

Figure 1 is an end elevation partly in section of a leather splitting machine equipped with one embodiment of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a portion of the same machine.

The leather splitting machine chosen for illustration comprises a frame 3, upper and lower feed rolls 5 and 7, a knife 9 and a table 11,the table being pivoted to the frame at 13 and angularly adjustable by means of a The rolls are driven continuously in a direction to feed the work to the knife; and the position of the upper rollis determined by wedges 17 mounted upon a horizontally adjustable bar 19. The parts thus far described are old and well known and may be identical with corresponding parts of similar machines, such for example as that shown and described in the patent to Nash No. 89 L850. The machine per se forms no part of the present invention and has been chosen first because it represents generally a type in which presentation of the work is'accompanied with some danger and second because operation of it involves a particular danger due to the different dimensions of the pieces of work which are commonly fed through it.

As has been explained, it is usual to employ leather splitting machines to operate upon pieces of work, such as top lifts and soles, which differ greatly in length and in thickness; and one object of the present invention is to ensure that neither small ieces such as top lifts nor large pieces such as soles can be presented to the machine except under conditions which are safe to the operator. To this end the table 11 has on each side upstanding flanges 21 in the outer side of each of which is formed a groove 23. Horizontally these grooves register, each groove being a counterpart of the other. Referring to- Fig. 1, in which one of the grooves is shown complete, it will be seen that, beginning at the end nearer to the feed rolls, there is first a substantially horizontal portion, then an upwardly inclined portion, then a second horizontal portion higher than the first, and finally a semi-circular portion in which the direction of extent of the groove is practically reversed to form, as will presently be described, a stop wall. The guard 25 is inthe form of abar having a curved face to permit it to be adjusted, as shown, close to the upper feed roll and depending arms, one at each end, each arm having a substantially upright portion 27 and a base 29. Rotatably mounted on each base and extending respectively into the grooves 23 are a forward roller 31 and a rearward roller 33. When the guard is in the position shown, the rollers 31 are in the forward ends of the grooves. In this position the opening between the bottom of the guard and the table is sufiicient to permit the thickest top lift to pass through it but insufficient to permit the ends-of the fingers of the operator to pass through. Consequently the operator may feed short pieces, such as top lifts, to the rolls with out danger. If, now, it is desired to present solesto the machine, the guard is pulled back to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, the rear rollers 33 in this position engaging the end walls of the reversely curved portions of the grooves. In this position the guard is tilted and raised considerably above the table so that the opening between the guard and the table is greater than before. \Vhen the device is used with splitting machine, this opening is about five-eighths of an inch in height, and the guard is located about six inches from the rolls'so' that even ifthe operator pushes his fingers through the opening he cannot touch the feed rolls.

The reason for the shape of the guideway formed by the grooves 23'will now appear.

Because of it the operator cannot place the guard in a dangerous position. As long as the forward rollers 31 are in the forward ends of the grooves and the guard is within finger length of the rolls, the opening between it and the table is insufficient to permit the passage of the operators fingers; and not until the guard has reached a position more than finger length from the rolls is it raised sufficiently to permit the operators fingers to pass beneath it. In no position of the guard can the operator pass his fingers beneath it into contact with the L rolls.

Inorder to ensure that an operator shall not be able to reach over the top of the guard at any time and therebv risk catching his fingers between the feed rolls, a shield 37 is hinged at its rear end to a rod 39 which is carried by the arms 27, the forward end of the shield being held up against a stationary part 43 of the machine by a coiled spring 41 wound about the rod and having one end resting upon the top of the guard and the other pressing up against the under side of the shield.

' Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let ed, of a stationary finger guard located in' front of the mechanism and spaced from the table to permit the w'ork'to pass between the guard and the table, and means whereby the space between the guard and the tablemay be increased by adjusting the guard over the table in a direction away from the mechanism.

2. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented by an operator, of a table upon which they are placed and over which they are presented, a guard located between the operator and the mechansm and spaced from the table to .permit the work to'pass beneath it, said guard being stationary while in use but adjustable into different positions, and means whereby said guard may be adjusted toward the operator and at the same time away from the E table.

3. The combination withmechanism to which pieces of work are presented by an operator, of a table, a guard between which and the table the pieces are presented, the guard being stationary while in use but adjustable over th table from one operative position adjacent to and in front of the mechanism to another operative position more remote from but still in front of the mechanism, and means whereby the distance between the guard and the table increases as the guard is adjusted from the first-named to the second-named position.

4. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented by the operator, of a table, a guard between which and the table the pieces are presented, the guard being stationary while in use but adjustable toward and from the-mechanism, and means for guiding the guard in its adjustment constructed and arranged to increase the eXtent of the opening between the guard and the table when the guard is adjusted away from the mechanism.

5. The combination with feed rolls to which pieces of work are presented by the operator, of a table for supporting the pieces, a guard located in front of the rolls and above the table, said guard being stationary while in use but adjustable into different positions, a support for the guard, two sets of alined guide members carried by the support, and two registering guideways in whichthe guide members are adapted to travel, the guideways being shaped to tilt the support and thereby to increase the space between the guard and the table when the support is moved away from the rolls.

6. The combination with a machine adapted to operate upon short, thin pieces of stock and longer. thicker pieces, of a table, a guard located in front of the operative mechanism of the machine and spaced above the table to form an opening through which the operator presents the pieces to the mechanism, said guard being adjustable over th table toward and from the mecha nism, and means for controlling the ad ustment constructed and arranged to maintain the opening of a size sufficient to'prevent the ed, a guideway, and means carried by the it guard and adapted to travel along the guideway, said guideway having two runs substantially parallel to the table and an 'inclined connecting run. o

8. The combination with splitting mechanism to which pieces of work are presented- -by an operator, of a table, a guard between which and the tablethe pieces are presented, and means whereby the guard may be ad justed into and held in two operative positions, one farther from the operator and nearer to thetable and one nearer to the opv erator and farther from the table.

9. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented by an op erator, of a guard, means whereby the distance of the guard from the mechanism may be varied, and a shield, movably mounted upon the guard and arranged to prevent the operator from reaching over the guard.

10. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented by an operator, of a guard, means whereby the distance of the guard from the mechanism may be varied, and a shield movably mounted uponthe guard and arranged to prevent the operator from reaching over the guard, said I shield comprising a plate fastened to the guard and slidable over a part of the machine. I I v 11. The combination with splitting mechanism, of a guard in the form of a plate located in front of said mechanism, a table between which andthe guard pieces of work may be presented, means whereby the guard may be adjusted toward and from the splitting mechanism in the general direction of the feed of the work as well as toward and fromthe table, and a shield adjustable with the guard and arranged toprevent at all times the operator from reaching over the guard. In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

CHARLES M. BRADFORD. DARIUS W. BUNKER. 

